


Finally human

by Ta_Moe



Category: Being Human (UK)
Genre: Fluff, Living Together, M/M, Post Season/Series 05
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-25
Updated: 2013-04-14
Packaged: 2017-12-06 11:07:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/734975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ta_Moe/pseuds/Ta_Moe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After they have defeated the devil and all turned human, Alex finally leaves to see the world and Tom and Hal are left alone in their house in Wales. How will their life change now that they are human again, Alex is gone and what will the neighbours think about the strange couple?</p><p>Contains: Cooking together, shopping together, Hal facing former enemies and Tom being the adorable virgin he's always been</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nitschieh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nitschieh/gifts).



> I'm no good at writing accents or dialects, so sorry for Tom's weird speech.  
> I'm writing this thing basically for my best friend Nitschieh who wanted something fluffy and domestic about our boys set after series 5 ;D

„Well then, I'm off boys“, Alex said with a smile.  
She hugged Tom goodbye and then pulled Hal into her arms whispering: “This is it. Get used to it. This – with us – was never anything real”  
She drew back, still smiling. Hal returned it and nodded, “I know”  
Tom looked a bit confused, but in all honesty he always did.  
“Have fun. See the world”, Hal said, “Not many people get a second chance like this”  
She nodded then, “Thanks. I'll write you two postcards”  
“You gotta”, Tom added.  
Alex stepped back, gripping hard into the strap of her backpack she had thrown over her shoulder.  
“Take care o' each other”, she told them.  
“O'course”, Tom promised, standing straight.  
Hal nodded again.

The door of the cab shut, Alex waved at them and the car left.  
Hal and Tom looked after the vehicle driving off. They were standing next to each other in silence.  
After a while Hal coughed and turned around, “Let's go inside”  
Tom followed him inside and into the kitchen.  
“Why are you following me?”, Hal asked, opening the fridge.  
“You're gonna make lunch, aren't yeh?”, Tom shrugged, “You can't cook”  
Hal made a face and glanced back over his shoulder at his friend, “What?”  
“You've been a vampire fo' ages. And yeh meals 've never been good so fa'”  
“Thank you?”, Hal frowned.  
“Lemme”, Tom motioned Hal to move over and he took out a steak and closed the fridge again.  
“One”, Hal stated, eyeing the piece of meat.  
“Yeah”, Tom shrugged, “We' got plenty other things. Get the vegetables, would yeh?”  
He turned towards the shelves and took out pan, seasoning, plates and oil.  
Hal rose a brow but did as he had been told.  
He placed some carrots, onions and pees on the counter. Tom glanced over and added: “Where's the garlic?”  
Hal frowned, “Garlic? You must be kidding me”  
“Nah, it's tasty”  
Hal wasn't so sure about that, “but Tom”  
“You're no longer a vampire, Hal”  
“I know that, Tom”, Hal said, “but still”  
“You gotta try, it's good. And yeh gotta face yer fears”  
Hal sighed and opened a cupboard, glaring at the former enemy.  
“It doesn't bite, yeh know?”, Tom said not looking up from washing the carrots.  
“I know that”, Hal growled and took out the garlic bulb by his fingertips, holding out towards Tom.  
“Yeh can cut the carrots”, Tom said.  
Hal groaned but obeyed. At least he didn't have to touch the garlic.  
“You know, I could also do the cooking”, Hal said, still convinced of his own abilities. He was cutting the carrots and Tom looked at his work, raising his brows and went back to cutting the steak into small slices, “No, better not”  
Hal stared at him, “you really do think I cannot cook, don't you?”  
Tom nodded, “But it doesn't matte', yeh don't 'ave to”  
“Why not?”; Hal asked with a frown.  
“I'm 'ere”, he placed the pan on the stove, put some oil in and waited for it to heat.  
“And we both know that you won't be here forever, Tom”, Hal said, cutting the carrots with more strength.  
“Why wouldn't I?”, Tom looked over at his friend.  
“Because you will find someone better eventually, to live with, who's not a former Vampire, and you will want to start a family and have kids”  
“Why? Do yeh want that?”, Tom asked, watching Hal.  
“No? But I'm sure you want that, I know you do, Tom. I know you”  
“Yeah, you know me, Hal”, Tom said, chucking the steak slices into the pan, “And that's why I'll stay with yeh, 'ere. It's me home”  
Hal stared at him, as the former werewolf poked the meat and added some more spices.  
“You are saying that now, but as soon as, let's say, Allison appears on your doorstep you change your mind”  
“I don' think so”, Tom shrugged, “She probably doesn't like me anymo', us not being werewolves and all”  
Hal looked at him, “Why wouldn't she? You didn't change at all, Tom”  
At that the younger man smiled, “Thank you, Hal”  
“I'm not even sure it is an actual compliment, but I meant it like one”, Hal scoffed and smiled at his friend, pointing with his knife at him, “Because you are a great man, and if she cannot see that, I feel sorry for her and it is her loss”  
Tom chuckled and nodded towards the vegetables, “Yeh really aren't good a'this”  
Hal made a face and put the knife down, “I never claimed I was, there was no need to properly cook”

They sat at the dinner table in silence, Tom eating and Hal looking down at his plate lost in thought.  
“What's wrong?”, Tom asked watching his friend poking at the food.  
“There is garlic in it. You really expect me to eat it just like that”  
Tom shrugged, “O' course. It's just garlic”  
Hal scoffed: “Just garlic. You are funny”  
“Yeah, just garlic”, Tom grinned and poked one of his steak slices onto his fork, holding it out above the table towards Hal, “'ere, try it”  
Hal stared at the food, then at his friend, “What are you doing?”  
“When a kid doesn't wanna eat yeh gotta feed it”  
“I'm not a child, Tom”, Hal said, but his friend didn't put the fork down.  
“I know”, Tom said serious, but kept holding his gaze, “Well?”  
“Fine”, Hal put down his own cutlery and opened his mouth, bending slightly forward to catch the meat from the fork.  
“See, wasn't that 'ard, was it?”  
Hal simply glared at him.  
Tom ignored him and continued eating.  
Hal kept staring at his friend, the corner of his lips turning up into a smirk.  
“You do realise that doing something like that is considered seductive, right?”, Hal said, leaning back in his chair, watching Tom.  
“Huh?”, the former werewolf only looked at him with risen eyebrows, “What do yeh mean?”  
“Feeding someone close to your age from your own fork... like that”, Hal looked please with himself at Tom's innocent reactions.  
“What's with that?”, Tom seemed confused.  
Hal thought to take his joke a bit further and leaned forward, moving his hand over the table until he could reach Tom's and brushed his fingers over Tom's back of his hand.  
“I could have gotten the wrong idea”, Hal informed him in a low voice.  
“What idea?”, Tom glanced down at Hal's hand on top of his own.  
“That you were trying to seduce me”, Hal flipped Tom's hand around and entwined their fingers.  
Tom's cheeks flushed but he didn't pull away, “Yeh mean, what yeh do when yeh like someone?”  
Hal nodded and smiled at his friend seductively.  
“Do yeh like me?”, Tom asked and Hal couldn't keep calm any longer.  
He withdrew his hand quickly and fell into laughter, “Really, Tom. How can anyone be... this adorable. You are impossible”  
Tom looked at him confused and a little hurt.  
“I dunno what yeh mean”  
“Tom”, Hal said, his eyes friendly ad understanding, “Be careful. Out there are people who could easily take advantage of you”  
Tom shook his head, “So, you don't like me?”  
Hal snorted, “Of course I don't. Well, as a friend, yes, but you know”  
“Alright”, Tom said and they continued eating.  
Hal couldn't help feeling a little put off though. As if he was missing something.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hal meets one of their neighbours who brings up memories of Eve. Hal isn't sure how to cope with that...

One thing Hal still couldn't handle even after becoming human were their neighbours, or interacting with people in general.  
Some days they would come up to him at the local supermarket and actually talk to him. He never knew what to say to them.   
Other days they were simply staring at him, maybe greeting him from afar, why he didn't quite know.  
Tom on the other hand was actually getting along with them and enjoyed talking to them too. Hal couldn't understand that. Somehow, he had always admired that ability of Tom's to be liked by everyone, to draw everyone in. At some point he had been drawn in by him as well, he knew that fairly well. Hal liked Tom, they had become good friends over the past months they had been living together and they had gone through so much as a team he didn't want to be parted from him either. There weren't that many people after all who knew him from when he was a vampire, and even less had liked him despite his two-faced self.   
Therefore, Tom was basically his only friend apart from Alex, but Alex was different, she was a girl and going on tour around the world.

“Good morning”, Miriam said, one of his next door neighbours, when Hal was taking out the garbage.  
Tom was inside cooking and busy.  
“Good morning”, the dark haired man wished back with a smile.  
“Such a nice day today, isn't it?”, she said, looking at him with a friendly face.   
Her hair was put up into a neat bun of golden locks with a hint of grey making its way into the strands. She was a bit chubby which made her face look only fresh and younger than she probably was. Hal guessed her in her fifties, also knowing her husband Mark had only turned 52 last month, who was working at the local supermarket and had told him about his birthday while Hal had been shopping there.  
The former vampire looked up at the sunny and cloudless sky. He blinked a bit and nodded at the woman.  
“Yes, I suppose it is”, he smiled and Miriam walked over to him.  
He wasn't too happy about that.  
“Is Tom doing alright?”, Miriam asked.  
Hal only rose a brow and nodded, “Why wouldn't he?”  
He ha never spoken much about themselves to any of the citizens here before.  
“With his Ex leaving and the baby gone”, the woman sighed deeply and eyed Hal a bit pitiful.  
“I'm sorry?”  
“Well, that woman who left shortly? Wasn't she the baby's mother and she took it home with her, didn't she? We haven't heard the baby's cries in weeks”  
Hal froze and tightened his grip on the bin he was still holding.  
“No?”  
Miriam looked at him confused, and also a bit curious.  
“The woman... Alex was not Tom's Ex-girlfriend and nor has she been Eve's mother”  
“Oh, the baby's name is Eve then?”, she seemed way too happy about that information.  
“Her name was Eve, yes. She died”, Hal looked down at her with a serious expression, “And I dare you, never mention her to Tom. We are both more than upset about her departure!”  
She stared at him, eyes wide open.  
That made her speechless, Hal figured and shook his head, “I got to go now. Tom's making dinner, I don't want to make him wait”  
“Yeah... yes, of course...”, Miriam said in a daze and before Hal could vanish inside, she added, “I'm so sorry... for your loss... it can't be easy... to have lost your child”  
Hal looked back at her with a sad smile, “No, it had been the hardest time of our lives”  
She nodded, tears in her eyes, “I can only imagine”  
Hal nodded once more and went into the house. Inside he leaned back against the door, taking a deep breath. Why would strangers bring Eve up. He would only remember the bad times and Annie's and Eve's deaths. He hated that. It hurt. His eyes burned and Hal clenched his hands into fists, trying to calm down.  
He hadn't heard Tom approaching, thus he was startled at his friend's sudden appearance and jumped a bit when his hand touched his shoulder softly.  
“Hal? You okay, mate?”, Tom asked carefully.  
“Uh? Ah... yeah... no, actually... sorry”, Hal ran a hand over his face.  
“What happened?”, Tom was always so gentle and sometimes Hal wondered how on earth anyone as innocent as Tom could have ever been cursed with being a werewolf.  
“That woman... Miriam”  
“Our neighbour? The one who makes such nice cookies?”  
Hal nodded, “Probably... she mentioned Eve...”  
It hurt even more to see Tom's face change at the mentioning of Eve's name. It was like a curse worse than being a vampire or werewolf or both at once.  
“I'm sorry...”, Hal whispered, “I can't just. Being human isn't easy... I get that... I forgot how easy it was to ignore these feelings sometimes”  
Tom just stared at Hal but his eyes were empty, lost in thoughts the other man assumed.  
“Tom, really. I'm sorry... I shouldn't have-”  
At that Tom suddenly flung his arms around Hal and pulled him into a tight hug, “Sorry, mate. 'M so sorry. I never thought you'd... so much”  
At first Hal was surprised and wanted to back away, but on a second thought he felt save there. This is what he had wanted and needed for so long, only had he never know. He gripped into Tom's shirt and held onto him, closing his eyes and letting the tears fall he had pushed back for far too long.  
They stood there, clinging and crying in silence for a while. Neither of them knew for how long.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shopassistant Bryan thinks Tom and Hal are boyfriends, what will Tom say to that and how will Hal react?

“I heard your sister moved out”, Bryan, one of the shop assistants at the local supermarket, said one day when Tom was collecting groceries.   
The former werewolf looked a bit startled and rose his thick brows at the young man, “What? I don' 'ave a sister”  
“No? Then the girl living with you and your boyfriend wasn't your sister?”  
“Nah, Alex' just our friend”, Tom said and put some flour into his cart, “An' Hal's just me mate”  
“Oh”, was all the tall blond said and smiled, “Sorry, I just assumed...”  
Tom shrugged, “Don' worry. 's alright”  
“Then you don't have a boyfriend”, Bryan said and leaned against the shelf, looking at Tom.  
“No. And neither a girlfriend, I think”  
“You think?”  
Tom added sugar to his cart, “Well, Allison neve' called me again”  
“That your ex-girlfriend?”  
“I think”, the younger man ran his hand over his buzzcut and smiled awkwardly.  
“Do you do guys?”, came the sudden question from Bryan, who was now meeting Tom's eyes intently.  
“What?”, Tom seemed a bit confused, “I dunno what you mean”  
Bryan chuckled quietly and moved over, bringing an arm around Tom's shoulder, whispering into his ear, “I asked if you were ever interested in dating another man, Tom”  
Exactly in that moment, Hal appeared in the hallway, carrying packs of tissues and toilet paper in his arms, “What are you doing?”  
Bryan swiftly let go of Tom and they both turned around to look at Hal.  
“Tom?”  
Tom's eyes were a bit widened but more in confusion than surprise.  
“Oh, and... Bryan, wasn't it? There are some people who could need your help. Over there!”, Hal said a bit sourly and pointed behind himself.  
It seemed as if the other man understood the message clearly and shuffled off, holding up his hands in defiance. He left but not without telling Hal with a quiet voice to take what he wanted before someone else would.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning was a quiet one at the hotel and Hal was busy going through the new arrived guest's details when a group of 3 young woman was coming towards him. He sighed already in anticipation of what he knew for sure was coming.  
“Hi”, one of the girls said, a tall brunette who's cleavage was a bit too low cut for Hal's taste.  
“Hello, how can I help you?”  
“We were wondering when you get off work”, the blonde of the group said, wriggling her brows.  
“Around 5”, Hal answered truthfully, already planning ahead.  
“Well, we thought of going out a bit in the evening”, the brunette was talking again and her sentence got finished by a short ginger with freckles: “and were hoping you'd come along”  
Hal looked up at them and then with his best smile he could offer declined gracefully, “I'm sorry, but I doubt my boyfriend would appreciate it if I were to ditch him for you gorgeous ladies”  
They all stared at him, blinked and Hal had been sure he had gotten out of this one in the best possible way, when Tom decided to walk around right then and also opened his mouth.  
“Hal, about tonight. I thought I'd make chicken, yeh like chicken, right?”, the younger man said with his most earnest expression, unaware of the girls surrounding them.  
“Yes, whatever, I told you, you can make whatever you like, Tom. You know I eat anything you make”, he had to keep the game up if he wanted to stay away from those annoying girls.  
Thus he moved his hands over the counter he was standing behind and that was separating him from the girls as well as Tom, and rearranged Tom's tie again.  
“Okay”, the other man said, shrugged and turned around, finally realising the girls still standing there, “Hello”  
Why was he always so super friendly?  
“Oh, you could just bring your boyfriend, if you like”, the ginger offered with a shrug and the other girls smiled up at them.  
“Yes”, they both agreed.  
Tom looked around at Hal with irritation on his face.  
“I don't think he wants to go, girls”, Hal said, trying his best to come off as believable as possible, “Right, Tom? You don't want to go out tonight?”  
Tom blinked at his friend, then at the girls and glanced back at Hal, “Uhm... sorry?”  
“We have things planned, sorry girls”, Hal said, before Tom could blow off his cover, and moved around the counter to stand extra close to his friend, bringing an arm around his waist.  
“Oh, that's too bad”, the brunette said with a sad face but then smiled anyway, “Maybe another day”  
Hal nodded, “Yes, maybe another day”  
Tom didn't say anything and just kept standing there with a confused expression on his face.  
Once the girls had left, Hal let go of Tom and moved back behind the counter.  
“Hal?”, he asked.  
“Yes?”   
“What was that?”  
The hotel manager answered with a shrug, “Nothing to worry about, just a little white lie”  
“The girls thought I'm your boyfriend”, Tom stated.  
Hal nodded, “So?”  
“Why would they think that?”  
“Because I told them”  
Tom looked even more confused, “But I'm not...”  
“I know, Tom. As I said, a little white lie. Sorry, I just didn't want to bother with them, now, will you excuse me, I have work to do”  
That said Hal left the counter to Tom and walked towards the kitchen trying to brush off his nervousness about the topic at hand. He felt his heart had taken a jump at Tom's questions and Hal's cheeks felt hot. This had been too embarrassing for his liking.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hal is meeting another neighbour who tells him his story...

“Good morning Mr. Yorke”, Mr. Gordon from across the street greeted Hal one morning a few days later.  
“Good morning”, the former vampire said friendly and nodded towards the old man.  
He was at least 70, Hal thought, that was what he looked like at least. He could have been older even. Mr. Michael Gordon was a former Navy Officer and had settled down years ago in the little house on the other street. In his young days, Hal was certain, that man must have been lean and handsome, as he was just a little chubby now and his features were still giving the hint of once had been a well shaped face with long lashes on big blue eyes that were looking up at the sky with a longing Hal had seen before many times. People were always yearning for lost chances when they felt their life drifting away. Mr. Gordon had that look into a distant future he had never gotten and Hal felt a bit sorry for him.  
“I'm just getting the mail”, Mr. Gordon explained and Hal nodded again with smile.   
“Waiting for anything in particular?”  
“No”, the man shook his head and looked down the road, “There's no one left to write an old man like me”  
Hal knew that the man was living alone in his little house but he had never bothered to wonder why or ever felt the need to ask. It was none of his business after all.  
“No, no one left. All dead”, Mr. Gordon smiled a bit sad and tottered to his mailbox taking out some magazines and a newspaper.  
Hal watched him for a moment, before he decided to move on cleaning their front yard.

“You know”, Mr. Gordon said, suddenly standing at the bottom of their stairs and Hal jumped in surprise.  
“You two are so lucky”, the old man went on, leaning against the fence, looking up at the sky.  
Hal didn't say anything, just kept working, glancing at his neighbour from time to time while he swept the staircase.  
“Society changed so much, it's good. It wasn't that easy back then, when I was young”, Mr. Gordon said, “We had it rough. Either nobody ever found out and we pretended to be like everyone else or when they did they would beat us up, send us to facilities to 'change' us” He shook his head, “I will never forget when I saw him there, dead, beaten to death. It was horrible. Can you imagine?”   
Hal stopped for a moment, looking at the old man, who was too sad to even cry at the memories.  
“And my parents? They never knew. I didn't want them to live in shame because of me”, Mr. Gordon continued and Hal put away his broom as he had reached the lowest stairs.  
He leaned against the fence next to the old man, who was still younger than himself but seemed to have seen and felt just as much pain as he had.  
“I'm sorry”, Hal said quietly.  
“Don't be. I'm happy for you. The world is changing, slowly, but it is”, he smiled at the young-looking man.  
“Make the best out of it. I wish you all the happiness in this world, Mr. Yorke. You and your boyfriend deserve this, for everyone of us who couldn't have it”, he squeezed Hal's shoulder and tottered back across the street, vanishing into his house, but not without turning around once more to wave at Hal.  
Hal waved back, a smile on his lips.  
How could he have told Mr. Gordon that he and Tom weren't like that. Or that he had seen the way people had been hundreds of years before.  
He thought it was best to leave him in the belief they were a happy young couple in love. And the thought of this being a lie made him so sad all of a sudden, Hal had to wonder why.


End file.
